When the state budget is finished a lot of local families getting government help with child care could lose that help.

The families of about 1,300 children in Alamance County get subsidies for day care now, said Susan Osborne, director of the county Department of Social Services. An additional 300 are on the waiting list as of May 30.

Osborne said the number getting subsidies does not change much.

“The waiting list goes up,” she said.

A lot of those families could find out they are making too much when the state budget is done.

The subsidies help parents who work, go to school or are required to have help caring for their children.

Three types of families get these subsidies, Osborne said:

â–ª the first are parents who are working, but making less than $4,187 per month for a family of four, or $50,200 per year.

â–ª the second are families on public assistance and in school or working under Work First rules.

â–ª The third are families with children on child-protective services plans that include day care.

Those families now make copays of 8 to 10 percent depending on income.

The proposed changes in the budget would keep subsidies for most younger children and make much bigger cuts or older kids.

The state House and Senate versions of the budget would both change how those subsides are awarded. One proposal would tie the income requirements to federal poverty rates. That would reduce the amount a family of four could make by more than $2,500 for children younger than 6, according to The News & Observer, and by more than $18,000 for children 6 to 12.

Those copays also would go to 10 percent for all families.

The governor’s budget would not change the income requirements, Osborne said.

Statewide, according to the N&O, close to 12,000 children, mostly 6 to 12 years old, could lose their subsidies. Osborne said she did not yet have figures on how many local families the changes could affect.

About $4.4 million in state and federal funds goes to local subsidies, all of which comes through the state. An additional $810,000 comes from Smart Start.

The money goes directly from DSS to about 80 child-care centers, Osborne said. They are all licensed by the state and go from large day care centers to home-based services.